French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Melding form with function, French-door refrigerators come with elegant double doors that open to an enormous fridge on the top and a freezer drawer beneath. Special features such as through-the-door dispensers, high-end ice machines and adjustable flex drawers make them stand out from the rest.
We consulted experts such as Ladina Schopf, interior designer architect, founder, and co-founder of LS Projects, for tips on picking the right one. They evaluated storage capacity, layout, energy efficiency, and other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
As its name suggests, the GE Profile series is targeted at those who wish to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their kitchen. This fridge is loaded with them all, from a Keurig K cup coffee maker on the door to a smart dispenser of water. But these flourishes don't mask mediocre performance, especially in the refrigerator's freezer and an ineffective temperature-controlled drawer. Given that this fridge costs a premium, I expect higher quality.
This fridge is a great option, despite the slight blip. It has a large freezer compartment, which is unusual for counter-depth French door fridges. It also has a large capacity for frozen food items compared to other models.
The fridge comes with 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment offers 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is on the same as an French door refrigerator that costs this much. It also has a decent-sized icemaker packed into the left door, but it's not the biggest I've seen.
You can adjust the shelving in each compartment to create a customized storage arrangement for whatever you have to store. The GE PYE22PYNFS's design for the interior is stylish, too. The LED lighting is a nice touch and the storage bins come with an additional shelf that can fold down so that you can store items that are tall. The drawers come with temperature controls so you can set them for Beverage, Meat or Deli settings. The drawers are simple to open and shut, but I found the plastic's textured coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator has all the features you'd expect from a refrigerator within this price range. This includes Wi-Fi as well as app support, and GE's SmartHQ Software. The app, which is available for iOS and Android devices allows you to control your fridge from anywhere in the world, and offers numerous options for customization. french door fridge and freezer alerts you when doors are left open, when the fridge or freezer needs to be defrosted and when it's time to change the filter.
It is nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill which is an option that is available in a few other GE fridges that allows you to choose how many cups of water you'd like to disperse simultaneously. It also has an indicator on the display of the fridge to display how much water have remaining, but that's not as helpful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a striking piece. It's designed to look like it's a seamless part in your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also features a veggie compartment that keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer periods, and two compressors for preserving food. The Ice maker is among the best we've ever tested and produces pyramid-shaped ice with a low water consumption. This fridge is the perfect option for households with a single member or kitchenettes looking for an integrated look and top-of-the-line food preservation.
This refrigerator was rated as the best in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. The freezer temperatures remained steady at just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, never moving more than a fraction a degree--this is key to preventing freezing burn. The fridge section of the fridge also performed well, achieving the desired temperature for initial set within a matter of hours and keeping that temperature steady throughout the course of our testing.
Bosch has a reputation for high-end appliances which is why it's no surprise that this counter depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance that has the option to connect to your home Wi-Fi as well as Bosch's Home Connect platform. The app allows you to monitor and control your refrigerator remotely from your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is expensive, however it has great features and capabilities for the price.
While the fridge is a fantastic piece of equipment, it's important to know the limitations. You may need to get inventive with tall items since the fridge is limited in shelf space. Also, the shelves are not sprillproof and can be easily stained or damaged by sharp objects. It is easy to take out the refrigerator trays However, be sure to clean them frequently to prevent the growth of mold.
If you are considering this refrigerator, you should also read our review of the GE Appliances French Door Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S is a top counter-depth refrigerator that packs a lot of storage space into a compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. Inside, the fridge features a standard French-door layout with gallon-sized bins for the doors on each door and two rows of spill-capture shelves and a set of sleeker drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded to provide more space for tall items. You'll also find a full-width deli drawer and an internal water dispenser.
This refrigerator is equipped with an ice maker, making it easy to move the frozen ice whenever you need it. The freezer features thoughtful design elements, as well, such as sliding drawers that help better organize the placement of your items. It also has a huge bin that can hold plenty of frozen food items as well as a separate storage bin for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is another awesome feature of the refrigerator. You can manage the temperature, lighting and other aspects of your refrigerator from your smartphone. It's a nice method of monitoring and managing your refrigerator, especially if you're away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat however it doesn't enhance the performance of the fridge. This fridge took longer to chill food and defrost it than other models we tested. This is probably due to its greater capacity.
The doors pose a problem with this fridge. The handles that are sunken let shorter people open them from the bottom. However taller people will have a hard time closing them without slamming them. It would have been more effective if these had front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a excellent option for those looking to combine the advantages of a French-door fridge's aesthetics with an efficient layout. Its capacity is above average for a counter-depth model and it cools well and has a nice layout. It's also less expensive than the top counter-depth refrigerator that has an ice maker, which helps make it a popular choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for an French door refrigerator that won't cost you a fortune this Frigidaire is a solid option. It's a simple fridge which may not be as appealing as some of its competitors, but it still has enough features to make a good option. Its most significant feature, the temperature adjustable drawer, helps to keep food like meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also has a large water dispenser as well as a good ice machine that works fast.
Another nice feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits over the two crisper bins. This drawer allows you to direct the majority of your fridge's cooling power into the area so that you can keep food items that require special attention. This feature is adjustable using a slider on the outside of the drawer. You can also use this feature to adjust the general cooling settings for the whole fridge, however, I've found that changing the general settings tends to be more effective than specific ones.
During my tests, I discovered that the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent across various parts of the refrigerator. The temperatures in the top, bottom and middle of the refrigerator did not differ significantly from 38 degrees. That's a good performance however it doesn't make it into the top ten in our ratings.
This fridge has a few other neat features, including a temperature-monitoring display that alerts you to fluctuations and provides a forecast for the day ahead. You can also connect this fridge to a smart thermometer for more precise readings of the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's exterior is made of grey-bodied stainless steel that has a "smudge-proof" finish. It blocks streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've tried.
Stephanie Cronk, executive editor of Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews Team, oversees the site's buyer's guides and product test reviews. She has more than 15 years of commerce and publishing experience, with a focus on digital and retail. Stephanie is committed to finding and recommending the most effective products for consumers, with a particular focus on home items and tech.